Concentrator.



No.851,426. PATENTED 11,23; 1907. H. L. LIGHTNER.-

GONGENTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MARS, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NORRI: rtriRs cm, WASHINGTON, o. c.

PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llYVf/YTOR.

ms nomzu FETERCL, IAsnmawn, puc.

PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

H. L. LIGHTNER.

GONGBNTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED mu.e,1eos.

3 8HEETB-3KBBT 3.

' ATM/my.

UNITE STATES PATENT @FFTCE.

HENRY L. LIGI-ITNER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- THIRD TO WVILLIAM PRIEST AND ONE-THIRD TO HENRY FEIGE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CONCENITRATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY L. LroHTNnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco 5 and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concentrators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in I concentrators, the object of the invention being to provide an apparatus whereby concentration of the valuable metals in sands or pulverized ore may be ellectively accomplished by means of a ciu'rent of air, and with I the use of but little water or none at all.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section, certain parts being shown in said elevation, of one form of my apparatus; Fig. 2 isa similar view of another form thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view, the upper portion showing the modification of Fig. 1 and the lower portion the modification of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, 41 represents the bottom of a circular tub or vat having a wall 40, said bottom 41 being supported upon radial ribs 31 and a circular bar 51, said ribs 31 being supported by brackets 34 upon posts 30 near the center of the apparatus and by brackets 33 upon the posts 29 near the pcriphery, said posts 30 and 33 resting upon blocks 28 which in turn rest upon beams 27 extending from a central ring 26. Also resting upon the outer of the blocks 28 are bent angle irons 32 which support the circular bar 51, and then extend upwards by the wall 40 of the vat and connect with the rim 52 thereof. The bottom of the vat is formed with a central hole, and a depending sleeve 53 therein to serve as a guide for a chute 24, said chute being adapted to move vertically in said sleeve, as will be presently set forth.

1 represents an air chamber, which receives compressed air by a tube 3, into the upper end of which extends a pipe 9 leading from an air conduit 11 and controlled by a gate 10. The tube 3 has secured'thereon a collar 6, which rests upon a disk 5, secured to a sleeve 4 in a groove in which is a rope or cable 53, which cable passes around pulleys 12, and is driven by any suitable source of power. The movement of said rope or cable in the grooved portion of the sleeve 4 imparts revolution thereto, friction being avoided by the disk5 rolling on balls 54 in a runway in a disk 55, said disk being supported upon the raised 01 U-shaped central portions of bars 7, which are braced by tie rods 13, the lower terminal extending horizontally across the top of the vat to the outside thereof, and being then bent downwards and obliquely inwards, as shown, and secured to collars 35 having beveled extensions sliding in vertical guide ways 36 secured to the wall of the vat. 35 are supported upon the lower ends of screws 17 which work in threaded bearings 37. As said screws 17 are turned, they rise Said collars and fall in the bearings 37, and consequently the bars 7 and the apparatus supported thereby also rise and fall.

From the air chamber 1 extend hollow tapering arms 20 having nozzles 42, 43. These nozzles are directed obliquely downwards over the surface of the material in the vat, and have their discharge openings flattened, so as to form horizontal narrow slits. The outermost nozzle 42 is directed at right angles to arm 20, while the other nozzles 43 are directed at acute angles inwards therefrom. The result is that the air supplied by the conduit 11 and conducted by the pipe 9, tube 3, air chamber 1, and hollow arm 20, is discharged from said nozzles 43 in a direction tending to blow the gangue spirally inwards. In this way the gangue is moved gradually inwards and eventually falls down the chute 24 into a trough 25, by which it may be conducted to any desired point.

The material may be treated either wet or dry. In Figs. 1 and 3 are illustrated means for feeding the material when water has been added. These means consist of a hopper 2 secured between the tube 3 and the a r chamber 1, into which hopper the material and water are supplied, said material and water then flowing down spouts 21 supported by the tie rods 27 and discharged upon the outer portion of the vat, where it is acted upon in succession by the air blasts from the nozzles of the revolving arms.

In Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 are shown means for feeding the material when water is not used. These means consist of hoppers 2 arranged at the periphery of the vat, and having bottoms converging to openings 48 through which the material is discharged into the vat at its periphery. These hoppers extend through a closed cover 44, braced by bars 45, which bars also support the hoppers 2. It will be understood that while in Fig. 4 only one half of the vat is shown as so covered, and having two hoppers for use with dry sand, the whole vat is then covered and four such hoppers are used near the periphery.

It is necessary to provide for the raising of the nozzles, as the concentrated material accumulates in the vat. This is done automatically with the rotating of the nozzles. For this purpose the sleeve 4 has a tooth 56, which in the revolution of said sleeve can engage one of two toothed wheels 8 mounted upon collars 57, slidable on, butrevolving with, shafts 15, which carry gears 23 meshing with gears 58 upon a shaft 14. Said shaft 14 has secured thereon gears 59 meshing with gears 22 upon shafts 16 revolving in bearings 38 and secured in place by collars 39. Said shafts 16 carry at their ends bevel gears 60 which mesh with bevel gears 61 upon transverse shafts 62, which carry at their ends bevel gears 63 meshing with bevel gears 64 upon the upper ends of the screws 17. Thus with the revolution of the air pipes and hollow arms, the bars 7, and the parts carried therewith are slowly raised.

It has been stated that the gangue is blown inwards from the surface of the material towards the center, where it falls down the chute 24. If, however, no water is used, there is provided a pipe 43, to which suction is applied at the outer end, to draw the gangue along said pipe and prevent it packing therein. The chute 24 israised with the deposit of material in the vat by a spider 65 connected to said chute 24 and supported upon a disk 66, which in turn is supported upon a nut 23 on a shaft 67 depending from the bottom of the air chamber. Thus as the arms 20 rise, the chute 24 rises with them within the sleeve 53.

When the vat has been sufliciently filled with concentrated material, the further supply of material is shut off, and a reconcentration takes place by continuing the air blast through the nozzles and thus blowing the gangue to the center, but causing said nozzles to descend as the material is thus disposed of. For this purpose the direction of vertical motion of the nozzles is reversed, by moving a shifter 46 which engages both of the collars 57 and thus moves one of the toothed wheels 8 out of the path of the tooth 56, and moves the other toothed wheel into said path, causing said tooth 56 to impart motion to the shaft 14 in the opposite direction to that which it previously had, thus causing the nozzles to descend instead of ascending. Upon reconcentration the material descending into the trough 25 or into the pipe 43 is saved, since it contains concentrates, although the most valuable material is that found in the bottom of the vat at the close of the operation.

It may be necessary to retard or accelerate the ascent or descent of the nozzles, and to enable this to be done there is provided a handle 18 operating a shaft 70 in one of the bearings 38, said shaft carrying a bevel gear 71 which meshes with a bevel gear 61. When it is desired to use this handle, the shifter is moved so that the two toothed gears 8 are at equal distances from the center, so that the .tooth 56 can operate on neither of them. Then the apparatus for automatically raising or lowering the noz zles will be inoperative, and they may be raised or lowered quickly by hand, by means of the handle 18.

I claim 1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to be treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, and means for raising said arms relatively to the vat, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to be treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, and means automatically operated with the revolving means for raising said arms relatively to the vat, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to be treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, and means for automatically separating the nozzles from the bottom of thevat, as the nozzles revolve, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to be treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, and means for automatically moving the nozzles to or from the bottom of the vat as the nozzles revolve, substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, a suction pipe for drawing the gangue from said central hole, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to be treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, and means for'raising said arms relatively to the vat, substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to be treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, and means for raising or lowering the arms and nozzles independently of their revoluble movement, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to he treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, means for raising or lowering said arms and nozzles automatically with the revoluble movement, and means for raising or lowering them independently of said movement, substantially as described.

S. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a vat having a central hole in the bottom thereof, means for feeding at the periphery of the vat the material to be treated, revoluble hollow arms, and nozzles connected therewith, discharging over the surface of the material in the vat inwardly or away from said periphery, means for supplying compressed air to said arms, means for revolving said arms, a closed cover for the vat, and hoppers extending through the closed covers and discharging at the periphery of the vat, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

H. L. LIGHTNER. IVitnesses:

F. M. WRIGHT, BESSIE GORFINKEL. 

